1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to automation systems. More particularly but not exclusively, the invention relates to techniques for commissioning devices for automation systems for homes, businesses, campuses, buildings, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
This section introduces concepts that may help facilitate a better understanding of the invention. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in that light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is prior art or what is not prior art. In the following, the term “home automation” may be used in descriptions of the prior art and embodiments of the invention. While home automation has a specific meaning in the prior art, it should be interpreted in this specification as applicable to not just personal residences but also dwellings of all types including homes, factories, businesses, and business and/or educational campuses. Further, it is applicable to regions or logical groupings of dwellings within a region (e.g., a micro-grid associated with a particular utility company). Finally, the term “automation” should be understood to include operations such as security management, facilities management, and energy management.
Conventional home automation systems are generally constructed using separately purchased, independent components that are commissioned to work together for the needs of a particular installation. In some cases, these components are not even designed to work together, and glue logic is required to commission them into an interoperable system. Because of the wide variety of setup possibilities, the interfaces for the commissioning process are so complex that a trained installer or a sophisticated end-user are generally the only ones able to perform these installations.
The process of commissioning can involve many steps such as “mating” the devices so they are aware of each-other, setting up “scenes” defining states of the devices working together, and creating “events” or “timers” to create actual automation. In many cases, a variety of radio-frequency (RF) networks may be involved, each with different connection requirements and configuration complexities. End-users do not normally know what is involved in getting these devices and systems to work with each other and instead rely on trained installers to figure out what they want and to create it for them.
Examples of networks involved in home automation, security and energy-management systems include Zigbee, Zwave, Bluetooth, near-field communications (NFC), and WiFi. An overview of some of these networks and their use can be found in “After 11n: The future of Wireless Home Networking,” PC magazine article, Feb. 5, 2009, retrieved from http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2340429,00.asp incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Information on Zigbee, Zwave, Bluetooth, NFC, and Wifi can be found in “ZigBee Specification” Document 053474r19 (http://www.zigbee.org/Specifications/ZigBee/Overview.aspx), “Z-Wave Protocol Overview” Document No.: SDS10243 (http://www.z-wavealliance.org/about-z-wave), https://bluetooth.org/About/bluetooth_sig.htm, http://www.nearfieldcommunication.org/, and http://wi-fi.org/, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Further examples include IEEE 802.15.4, SmartLab's Insteon dual-mesh technology, EnOcean low power or battery-less wireless technology, and 6LoWPAN IPv6-based automation network.
This complexity of these systems, interfaces, and configuration procedures, along with the cost of a trained installer has held home automation back from mass deployment. Some suppliers have attempted to simplify the commissioning process, but the resulting process has not been made simple enough. Other suppliers sell pre-configured systems, but the resulting systems are less useful and are difficult to expand.